


Microcosmos

by mobius_stripper



Series: Tales from the Tower [4]
Category: Captain America (Movies), Iron Man (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies), The Incredible Hulk (2008), Thor (Movies)
Genre: F/M, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-04-13
Updated: 2015-05-19
Packaged: 2018-03-22 02:41:48
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 18
Words: 14,831
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3711778
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mobius_stripper/pseuds/mobius_stripper
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>“You can find the entire cosmos lurking in its least remarkable objects.”<br/>-Wislawa Szymborska</p><p>Aside from her taste in employers, Darcy Lewis is pretty unremarkable.  Doesn't mean she's insignificant.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Prologue

Darcy Lewis only has the one degree and a job that was given to her out of pity.  So she (figuratively) leaps at the chance when Tony Stark presents it to her.  She'd've leapt physically but it didn't seem appropriate with Pepper Potts perched four feet away on Jane's shitty office furniture.  She adds 'shitty office furniture' to her list of 'why we definitely need to go with the nice goatee'd man, stop being stubborn, Jane'.  It's above 'England weather is terrible for star-gazing based activities' but well below 'in case there are more freaky aliens'.

Jane takes a lot less convincing than expected.  

* * *

Darcy has been living here a month now and she's literally on a first name basis with the Avengers.  She's not actually comfortable with this, but every single one of them has given her (and technically Jane too) permission to be casual with them and if she chokes a little they pretend not to notice.  It's easier for her to get used to Jarvis (suck it Siri) than it is to see Tony Stark making smoothies and then offering her one _._ Or walking past Captain holy-fucking- _damn_ America in his tightass sports gear.  

Jane fits herself into life (with the Avengers!) without a second thought.  Not surprising really, people orbit Jane like nobody’s business.  There’s some kind of magnetic pull around her and everyone gets caught up in it; disenchanted old astrophysicists, penniless grad students, alien princes, you name it Jane Foster has befriended it.  And now that she isn't just some cutie quack scientist, but a super important could-be-the-key-to-saving-the-planet genius, the Jane system picks up a few more heavenly bodies.  

Darcy stops to think about that and decides, yeah, (Clint’s arms and Natasha’s legs and Pepper’s brain and Steve’s everything) on a scale of one to Thor, ‘heavenly’ is exactly the right word for it.  They don't orbit very closely, but they do like to check in.  The Black Widow has seriously offered to help Jane hack the Hubble Space Telescope.  The genius-who-turns-into-the-Hulk regularly brings tea in comically over-sized mugs.

And all of  _that_ is less culture shock than New York itself.  

She very narrowly avoids expressing this thought at dinner one night because well... Steve and New York and culture shock is a can of worms with hazard stickers and blaring lights all over it.  

'Think how Steve must feel' becomes the new 'what would Jesus do?' except that it's just her using it.   It's unfortunate there's no etiquette for informing someone that you keep crashing your train of thought into a big wall of stupid and then freaking out over it because six year old you never forgave Saturday-morning him for being a butthead and twenty-six year old you knows enough to feel bad but still can't fix it.  It doesn't help her mental spasms that he's unfailingly polite, adorkably hot and a genuinely nice person.

What  _would_ Jesus do?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> filling in stuff from previous work.


	2. Home is Where the Hearth is Burning

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Taking up at the end of Chapter 10 of Outlandish and Fantastic and Chapter 4 of Sorry Boss, It's a One-off, wherein Steve, Nat and Clint leave the Tower to do CA: TWS.

Steve's got one box actually taped up ready to ship and three more labeled and languishing.  An unfamiliar slap of feet comes to his door and he looks over to find Pepper, barefoot, bearing a stack of magazines. 

"I know Natasha said SHIELD would find you a furnished apartment, but I thought you'd like to pick out some personal items."  She pauses but chooses not continue with her train of thought.  She just puts the glossy books on his table and taps a nail on the top catalog.  "Feel free to put them on Tony's card."

Steve nods in thanks and notices she's still holding one.  Dr. Foster's face is clearly visible on the cover.  Pepper follows his eyes and smiles. 

"I know a lot of famous people," she remarks, like she hasn't graced more than a few front pages herself.  "Clint is making breakfast for the late risers if you feel like flapjacks."

Steve thinks breakfast might be better than dealing with the boxes.  The boxes mean he's leaving this place.  All the places he's left... he's never seen them again.  He knows in his head that he can come back here whenever he's in town, in fact everyone will insist on it.  It's the rest of him that doesn't believe... that is desperately afraid that he'll never be allowed to have a home again. 

Yeah, breakfast is definitely better than boxes. 

-

Clint is very good at making pancakes.  However his inability to make them anything other than round leaves Darcy singularly unimpressed.  Not even the trickshots to get the finished goods from pan to plate will make up for the disappointment. 

"Bitch please, I could make a better looking hammer with what's under the couch."

"Knowing how to make a leaf in coffee foam does not unlock every art skill ever."  Clint flips a fresh pancake over his shoulder onto the waiting platter.  She commandeers it for the super epicly awesome stack she is building.  It involves alternating layers of syrup and butter with bacon scaffolding but is sadly not myahnah-shaped.  

"I also do hearts and flowers," she grouses as Steve strolls in.  "One time I even made a decent looking cat."

"Well excuse me for not recognizing your many and varied talents.  Now how many pancakes do you want."  Clint juggles the can of cooking spray and his water bottle because he's an unrepentant show-off.  "Oh hey Steve, you want grub?"

"Ladies first."

"Sure thing.  So Steve, you want grub?"  Clint handily catches the banana Darcy lobs at his head and includes it in his impromptu circus act. 

She gives him the finger before loading Jane's breakfast onto a tray and heading to her bedroom.  "Jarvis, if Jane isn't in her room, let her know she's got celebratory 'you scienced and it didn't suck and now you're on a magazine!' pancakes waiting for her.  Unless a robot eats them all first.  In which case it's her own fault."

"Dr. Foster has been notified and is returning to her quarters as we speak, Ms. Lewis."

"Wow, pancakes: 1, Science: 0.  I call that a goddamn miracle."

-

When Darcy comes back Clint is looking at something on his phone and there's a very definite smell of burning butter.  Jarvis turns on the fans without being asked.

"Is the kitchen closed already because I was promised 'the best thing you've ever put in your mouth in public' to the tune of chocolate chips." 

Clint slides a cooling plate over and resumes trying to drip a spider pattern onto the hot frying pan. 

Darcy examines her spotty pancakes.  "How come I don't get art?"

"What have you done to deserve it?"

"Hey, normal twenty six year old dealing with some seriously abnormal shit.  That deserves at least one heart."

"Psh, Steve's been winning the 'seriously abnormal shit' awards since 1942.  He's not complaining about his food."  Clint's spider is going to look more dead than deadly, but Darcy keeps to her policy.  Don't comment; heavily armed and completely fucking crazy is only fun for _them_.

"Food will win the war," Steve intones seriously.  "I'd never complain about a free meal, no matter how awful it is."

Darcy catches an honest-to-god twinkle in Captain America's eye.  "Are you hinting his pancakes aren't what they ought to be?" she rumbles.

Steve's twinkle brightens.  "I understood that reference."


	3. Dangers Untold and Hardships Unnumbered

Darcy doesn't know why movie soundtracks help her concentrate more than album releases, but she's got fifteen years of research to prove it works.  Movie soundtracks attached to the actual movie increase her productivity by about half a letter grade.  So she's taking a break from mocking-robots-with-Jarvis to call up her old standby and get through writing the minutes for Pepper's most recent three hour meeting.  She's pretty sure it's a felony in 34 states to watch Labyrinth and  _not_ sing so...

Steve and Clint walk by right when she hits one of the long notes.  She must be spending too much time with Natasha, because Clint quirks an eyebrow at her, the height and angle plainly reads: 'I double dog dare you'.  And really there's no way she can undo this; she may as well make it worse.  

She adds a little sway to her shoulders and croons directly at Captain America, "My baby's love had gone and left my baby blue.  No-obody knew."  Thankfully Clint belts out the chorus with her, so she only feels like half an idiot instead of a complete moron.  

Hawkeye, living up to his name, notices the instant Steve's attention wanders and gets captured by the puppets on screen.  "Jarvis, why don't you start it from the beginning.  Someone is not nearly as impressed with my voice as he should be."

"With your permission, Ms. Lewis?"

"Make it so, Number One."  Darcy kicks her notebooks off the couch.  "Fair warning.  You can tell me to shut up if I'm reciting dialog, but no power in the 'verse will prevent me from singing."  

It doesn't take more than five minutes for Steve to become completely enthralled by the movie.  If Natasha cares that no one is helping load her shit into the elevator, she keeps it to herself.  Clint finds out later that she hacked a bot and jerry-rigged a sleigh out of a dolly and some climbing rope.  Providing some context for the red nose glued to Butterfingers' 'face'.

* * *

Steve crashes his bike not two hours before he's supposed to be moving out.  To be fair, he wasn't in the saddle when it hit the wall. He was hanging off the side of a bus, trying to stop a guy with a Chitauri boomstick.  Honestly.  Guy stupid enough to try and use a thing literally as tall as himself in a moving vehicle?  So not worth what happened to that poor bike.  And all he wanted was a Reuben from that one deli.  

Pepper agrees it is a tragedy and, over Tony's very vocal lamentations, offers Steve use of any car in the garage with a syrupy sweet voice that has their owner wincing.  Steve looks like he's seriously considering relieving his landlord of the roadster before grinning.

"Wouldn't last a week.  SHIELD'll have cars."

"And your place doesn't do private parking," Clint adds.  "Underground garages are the last thing you want in a safehouse."

" _Asbestos_ is the last thing you want in a safehouse."  Natasha pushes up her sunglasses pointedly.

"Okay, fine, asbestos is the last thing.  But only because if you find yourself in a safehouse with Black Widow, you can be sure the walls won't survive."  Clint pauses.  "That sounded dirtier than I actually meant it to.  Guns.  I was talking about guns."

"Shut _up_ Barton, and get the hell off my land."  

Clint flips Tony one last bird before sliding into the cab of the waiting helicopter.  Natasha tosses her jacket onto an empty seat.  Bruce holds out brown bag lunches.  Jane actually looks up from her tablet to say goodbye, Darcy's elbow digging in her ribs.  Tony waves like he's doing them a favor.  

Steve remembers standing next to Becca as she flapped her arms, like a wild chicken, when Bucky shipped out.  Something clenches in his stomach as he wonders if this is what it feels like, to have people waiting for him to come back.  He shoves his headset on and there's nothing but static and Clint humming Bowie for an hour until they touchdown at some nondescript airfield in Fairfax.


	4. Calling all Angels

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> skipping to the end of _Disney's Cap 2: Soldiers on Ice_ /ch.11 of Outlandish and Fantistic

Natasha Romanov stands up before the Senate and the world.  She is badass beautiful and bold and she does everything but straight up drop the mic (would have made a much better footnote for the history books, but what can you do).  Darcy feels a tiny, eensy weensy smile tug at her mouth and it's the first time in a week that something has felt _good_.  It must show on her face because Jane offers her a tissue, which opens the floodgates and then Jane has to locate a trashcan for all the DNA Darcy is leaking.

Pepper emails her a bunch of info high priority, including a hospital room in Arlington and a reminder that she can use her company card for everything.  Darcy doesn't put it together until she calls the phone number, still sniffing a little wetly.  

"Who is this?" is the first thing she gets.  Fucking really.

"Darcy Lewis on behalf of Pepper Potts," she snaps back.  She can hear some rustling, and whatever motown was playing in the background cuts abruptly.

"Hello?"  Holy crap, Steve actually sounds weak.  Darcy blows her nose and tries to sound competent.

"Hey Steve, it's Darcy.  Pepper gave me your number.  Best guess why is that you're not covered by insurance, since your most recent employer is a lying traitorous sack of-"

She hears wheezy laughter and decides not to push her luck.

"Anyway, Pepper gave me your digits and said I'm supposed to get you whatever you need.  I got a pen, so if you wanna just rattle off your wishlist, I'll take care of it."

"I'm not going anywhere for a while.  I'll write up a real list and get it to you.  Thanks."

"Sure.  Steve?"

"Yeah?"

"Get well soon.  And thanks for saving us from ourselves."

* * *

Tony Stark may own a private jet, but he also has a seriously twisted sense of humor.  Darcy pulls out the Bucky bear and tosses it into a corner.  It's a good thing Darcy was re-checking the bag to minimize suspicious bulges.  Jane isn't creative when it comes to gifts, and it's true Steve lost the snuggie she gave him (you know, sometime during the firefight or the fallout).  Nothing will convince her he doesn't need a new one.  Darcy removes everything else and lines the bottom of the bag with Jane's infomercial addiction.

The 'special' stuff Steve asked for fits nicely between the snuggie and spare uniform.  She re-wraps the electronics in a Hulk hoodie (because anything with the shield logo seems insensitive).  And the Hulk ones are noticeably fluffier than any other.  The super nice leather wallet (with two prepaid debit cards and a note from Pepper tucked into the fold) goes into the zippy pocket.  There are a dozen extra phones, shitty domestic-calls-only flip phones with no GPS or data or games aside from Snake because _spies_.  And, because Tony is the dickhole paying for it, they are all pink.  The thermos of soup Bruce made is still hot.  

The plane rolls to a stop.  Darcy hefts the duffle and stands.  The Jarvis app flashes a picture of the woman who's supposed to drive her and then suggests two florists near the hospital.  Darcy offers up a short prayer to the god of getting shit done and puts her phone away.  

_Don't get kidnapped.  Or killed._ She steps out of the plane.   _  
_

-

Darcy knocks on the door frame.  The guy sitting next to it looks at her over his newspaper.

"Hi, who're you?"  

Darcy recognizes the voice, so she doesn't feel bad hissing "Darcy Lewis, on behalf of Pepper Potts.  And the motherfucking Avengers."

The voice just smiles.  "Sam Wilson, on behalf of Truth, Justice and the American Way."  

"I just go by Steve now," Darcy hears from the bed, his face blocked by the newspaper.  It's a good tactic to discourage idle curiosity. She wonders who thought of it.

She shuffles forward until she can see him.   Captain America looks like he got hit by a train.  She doesn't say anything for a minute and then offers him the thermos.  "Just what the doctor ordered.  Well, he asked nicely.  And since he made your favorite, you can't say no."  Steve takes it, and Darcy Lewis, normal person untrained in body language, can actually see his arm tremble a little when she lets go.  He unscrews the top without a problem though and sniffs appreciatively.  "Chicken tortilla soup.  Practically un-American.  Hey, Sam Wilson, give me a dollar.  I saw Fritos in the machine and Cap _needs_ them."

Sam Wilson does not give her a dollar.  Even when she promises Stark Industries will reimburse him.


	5. A Frozen Heart Worth Mining

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I still don't feel like writing out the Bourne Identity thriller that would be collecting the Winter Soldier and bringing him back in a butterfly net.

Steve comes back in the middle of the night.  Darcy only knows about this because Jane was ejected from the lab for safety reasons and decided to break into Darcy's bedroom to complain about it.  Jane spends the next morning pacing the confines of their living room, outrage definitely outweighing understanding right now.  Darcy is perfectly fine letting the super people do their thing and settles down with a bowl of Lucky Charms to enjoy a day of paid leave.   

Unfortunately the next item on the list of 'awesomely terrible movies with incompetent villains to take our minds off the frightening reality that is _our life_ ' is _Real Genius._ They are all of three minutes in when the horrible special effects shuttle vaporizes a guy to prove a point.  Darcy gags and manages to get to the kitchen sink before throwing up.  Jarvis immediately turns off the movie.  Jane mixes her a glass of orange juice and Sprite with nary a peep.  Darcy sips carefully and eventually her insides stop twisting.

'We will never speak of this again."

"Do you concede your movie list is stupid?"

"Yes but it's a coping kind of stupid."  Darcy attacks a smudge on her glasses with her shirt.  "Aliens is one thing, but there are _senators_ turning up HYDRA and... did you read the file on the guy that's invading your lab?  I would like, for one more day, to pretend bad guys only come with stupid accents and skull shaped island lairs."

Jane looks longingly at the schematic in her lap but shoves her tablet under the plush Mjolnir.  "Okay.  Well, the minions are on PTO until further notice, so what should we do that doesn't involve bad guys of any kind?"

"Too early to get drunk and too soon to watch anything else.  Umm, well we have the combined IQ of a genius and her lovely assistant, we can figure this out, right?"

"Ms. Lewis, if you are not opposed, Ms. Potts has a list of items Sergeant Barnes will need during his residence."

"That is a bullshit reason to make us leave."  Jane clutches her hammer rebelliously.

"It comes from a place of love, which is why we're gonna do it.  Hit me with the list, J-man."

Jane skims the list halfheartedly over Darcy's shoulder.  "She wants a Costco pack of safety razors but we can get most of this at Duane Reade."

Darcy gives her former boss a pitying look.  "We're supposed to be out of the Tower for longer than twenty minutes.  I'm thinking military surplus or... oh we are so hitting the Disney store and cleaning out the _Frozen_ section."

"I doubt the Winter Soldier has seen _Frozen_.'

"Steve has.  He was at the premiere."  Darcy giggles.  "I'd pay money to see Captain America explain Elsa bedsheets."

* * *

Jarvis snitches. 

Steve and Bucky are still having their staring contest when the door opens to allow the click of four inch heels.  Bucky pointedly drives his fist deeper.  The painted Eiffel Tower is completely obliterated.  Steve can hear the stud splintering under the force. 

Pepper Potts walks right up to the Winter Soldier and lays one manicured hand on his arm.  He doesn't react.  She moves her fingers to the inside of his elbow and pushes until his hand is out of her wall. If Bucky is surprised she is able to do it, he hides it behind his straggly bangs.

"That was signed and numbered." 

Steve looks guilty.  Bucky looks at his elbow.  Pepper keeps pushing until he lets his arm fall to his side.

"I thought he might remember France," Steve says quietly. 

"France in 1944 doesn't seem worth remembering."  She pins them with a look that would cow God, first Bucky then Steve before pronouncing, "the next time you destroy my art, I will remove _his_ arm off and beat _you_ with it."

"She's joking," Steve assures Bucky as she sweeps out.

"'m mind-wiped, not stupid," he mutters, flexing his arm. 


	6. Finish What You Started

There's a pile of bags sitting in the elevator for him.  Steve collects them all in one go and brings them inside.    
Bucky is re-reading his file in blank silence.  Steve unpacks slowly, discovering neon pink post-its shaped like spectacles attached to most of the items.  Not that he needs the hint to figure out whose sloppy purple chicken scratch this is.

'Pepper Potts ordered us to buy this and she deals with Tony Stark's facial hair on a daily basis so clearly your friend needs help' on the personal grooming kit.  Steve finds a tin of pomade boldly proclaiming to be the original since 1926 and there's a distant pang because it isn't Bucky's preferred brand.  Not that Bucky has anything like preferences right now.

'be glad Disney doesn't stock Stark-luxury-size bedsheets' is barely hanging onto the Elsa pillowcase.  

'Jane insisted we get these and then went off on some rant about Thor's dad calling her a goat so please just keep them' on the bag with the two saddest, flattest pillows in all Manhattan.  They smell strongly of fake daffodils and disinfectant.

'I figured it out.  Not the goat part completely, but Jane thinks soldier boy will sleep better on the crappy pillows,' stuck to a lumpy quilt.

'this is funny.  laugh!' on one of those plastic handsets he's seen a couple people attach to their cell phones; this one is fake wood and cheap brass finish because it's 'vintage'.

'self' and 'explanatory' are wedged in the toes of a pair of house slippers.

'J said you needed to cover up some wall damage.  toothpaste works, google it' he finds on a cardboard tube.  Inside is a flimsy poster of a kitten on a branch proclaiming 'hang in there!'.

Bucky stares as Steve pulls out more and more  _stuff_ , collecting the notes with a small smile.  Steve catches his gaze and shrugs.

"Darcy," is all he says, like that should explain everything.  "You'll like her," he adds.

The Winter Soldier would not.  Bucky might, since Steve does.

* * *

It's been a week and Bucky hasn't destroyed anything else aside from Tony Stark's patience.  Which is not a big enough crime to prevent the termination of isolation protocols.  Not that it matters to Bucky.  

He doesn't talk, he barely eats, and he can only sleep in the closet.  All he does is read and brood until Bruce Banner guides him to the lab for a brain scan.  Maybe it will tell them he's a lost cause.  Maybe Steve will find the hope he is searching so desperately for.  Maybe it will explain why his head hurts when he tries to remember.

If it does any of those things, he doesn't find out.  Stark and Banner say they need a minute to discuss the findings and they never come back.  Steve gets even more pinched around the eyes and suggests Bucky try hanging out in the common areas to get to know the others better while he finds out what's going on.    
The Winter Soldier knows a flanking maneuver when he sees one.  Bucky knows Steve.  

-

He meets Darcy in the kitchen.  She talks so much it doesn't matter that he has nothing to say.  She gets distracted when the other girl, Jane, comes in and then they both ignore him to argue with each other.  He can't tell if it's because they trust him not to hurt anyone, or the AI to stop it from happening.  He'll learn after a few weeks they both lack a sense of self-preservation.

Right now though...  He doesn't calculate how quickly he could neutralize them.  He doesn't think about what Iron Man or the Hulk would do to him if he did.  He doesn't need an exit strategy for being a hundred floors up without air support.  

He doesn't tense up when Steve appears, despite knowing how much of a threat he is.

Steve would count that as progress.  Bucky knows that should matter to him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> please see Ch 5 of The Line at the End to read Bucky's close encounters of the astrophysicist kind.


	7. All You Need For a Movie is a Gun and a Girl

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> All you need for a movie is a gun and a girl.  
> Jean-Luc Godard

Darcy resumes watching unrealistic A.I. movies with Jarvis in her free time because it's nice to have a routine.  Jarvis selects _Electric Dreams_ mostly to make the point that if spilled champagne could really make a computer sentient, Jarvis would already be running this bitch. 

She doesn't notice Bucky, lured here by the smell of popcorn, until he gingerly sets himself onto the other end of the couch.  She throws the bowl at him with a yelp.

"Holy shit!  Dude, we need to get you a bell."  She reclaims the bowl and starts sweeping as much popcorn as she can back in, disclaiming "five second rule!" 

She looks up to offer him an apology but he's holding a knife.  It's not pointed at her or _in_ her or anything so she very carefully puts the bowl down next to him and returns to her side of the couch. 

"Can you put that away?  Please.  Ever since Tony shot out the flat screen, word-of-Pepper is no weapons or suit parts in the common areas except during emergencies."

She blinks and the knife is gone.  Now is probably not the best time to ask how he did that.

Bucky removes a few kernels from the folds of his pants.  Darcy wonders if Natasha did actually kill a guy with a Dorito, can the Winter Soldier do it with gourmet popping corn?  She won't find out today because Bucky Barnes puts it in his mouth.  Two seconds later he's eating it like every red-blooded American should: scarfing it by the handful.  Darcy inches closer until she can reach in and scoop some out for herself. 

She is still alive by the time the bowl is empty (all of three minutes later) so she repairs to kitchen to make another batch.  With the power of science-enhanced senses, Steve comes in just as she's shaking the bag. 

"Evening Darcy."

"Hey there Cap'n Tightpants."

Steve sneaks a glance at Bucky before he asks her "How was your day?".

"Oh you know.  Some asshole is suing Tony over a hinge.  Seriously.  I'm not kidding.  Tony has never submitted anything pertinent to Iron Man to the US Patent Office, so now, some five years later, some idiot is trying to sue for infringement.  Pepper summoned the High Council of Legal Counsel and I've been rearranging her schedule to make it work.  And what has Tony been doing?  Making more of those stupid hinges."

"Sounds rough," Steve says sympathetically.

"It is, but it's why I'm being paid so...  Tony says 'jump', people say 'how high are you?'.  Pepper says 'jump' and everyone asks 'off what?'.  Hence, decompressing with Jarvis.  You wanna join us?"

"Sure.  I'll even make my own popcorn."

"See, that's why you're a hero."  In the light of the kitchen she notices Steve is sweaty and his gaze is bouncing between her and Bucky like this is tennis.  Super cracked-up tennis with a side of Extremis.  She lowers her voice.  "Did Jarvis call you?"

Steve nods slightly.  Darcy gives him a grateful smile and blows a buttery kiss at the ceiling before opening the fridge to survey drink options.  She snags two bottles of Coke in the fancy glass bottles and holds them out.  Steve effortlessly twists the caps off.

"I loosened them up for you," she assures him.  

"Thanks.  I appreciate it.  I did run all the way up here and you know how easily I get winded."  

"Oh, I know."  Darcy thinks about the pictures of tiny naked Steve on the internet and decides to take the Coke and her popcorn back to the couch where she won't say something stupid.  Bucky reaches blindly for the popcorn, engrossed in the movie despite it being one very long eighties music video.  He takes the bottle when she puts the cool glass on the back of his hand and even figures out what to do with it all on his own.

Steve settles into an armchair where he can see both the screen and the couch but Bucky just sits and watches, unmoving except to eat and drink.  Darcy, on the other hand, squirms like an itchy kitten.  She wiggles, trying to find a comfy spot between the cushions, before sliding up against the armrest to tuck her legs under her.  She realizes she can't get to the popcorn like that and scoots toward the middle just to discover she can't reach the Coke sitting on the sidetable.  In the end, she decides popcorn wins out and she settles down within arms length of the bowl, only fidgeting with her hair or her glasses every so often.

When the movie finishes, Darcy stretches and pats Bucky on the arm.  "You're a good sofa buddy.  You have _no_ idea how much Jane twitches."  Steve hides a smile in his fist.  "You can drop in on movie night any time.  You too," she says with a salute to the armchair.

Bucky nods.  Steve says with complete sincerity, "that would be great."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> relevant: http://imgur.com/gallery/BpCSe


	8. Inventing the Universe

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> If you wish to make an apple pie from scratch, you must first invent the universe.  
> Carl Sagan

Pepper gets a call on her cellphone in the middle of quarterly review.  That never happens except when Tony is in trouble, which can't be right because he's sitting next to her.  In a navy blue suit, so it's not HR complaining about dress code violations and poor leadership by example.

She steps outside to answer.  "Hello, this is Pepper."  Unspoken is 'how the hell did you get this number?'.

"Hey Pepper, it's Clint.  I think I left a suit in my room and I really need it for this-" there is a distinct sound of gunfire "interview... I'm doing in Philly," he finishes lamely.  There's some white noise and then she hears someone shouting in Albanian and he shouts back, probably something rude, before he resumes talking like nothing out of the ordinary is happening.  For him, it probably isn't.  "Anyway, if you could ask Tony to drop off that suit, it would be a huge help.  This uh... interview is bigger than I thought.  I tried his number but..."

"I got it.  He'll call you back."  Pepper taps on her phone briefly.  Tony receives the call information and GPS data, flagged 'do this right now, silly man'.  He buzzes by her not five seconds later, looking entirely too grateful for an 'interview' with HYDRA.  

"You're the best!" Clint cheers. The line goes suddenly silent.

"Don't I know it," she mutters, tucking her phone into her jacket.

She returns to her seat in time to hear Sales is planning a 20% increase for headcount despite a 5% drop in orders.  They're still trying to justify themselves when Iron Man does a barrel roll outside the conference room window before jetting off into the distance.

* * *

Tony is back a couple hours later, the suit looking very much worse for wear.  If a robot arm could look long-suffering, the ones on the landing pad certainly do as they wrestle with the dented metal.  

"I'd have given Cap a helicopter," she says severely, gesturing at a blackened shin-plate.  "You're supposed to be a team."

"I left a very important meeting to help someone.  I'd say that _is_ me being on a team."  He presses her fingers to his lips.  "And Barton rejected my offer to bring Bruce and or Steve.   _He's_ the one who should be getting the lecture."

Pepper makes a little  _humph_.  "You weren't spanked enough as a child."

"Are you offering now?"

She gives him a half-lidded look with a sly smile and then pulls out her phone.  "Dinner is in an hour," she says briskly.  "I've emailed you a couple things we need you to sign off on before the follow up meeting, and I want you to do it before we eat.  Also, dinner is recipes from the Rogers' family cookbook, so try not to complain."

"Anything for you.  Hey, wait, was that yes?  You know, to the other thing.  Pepper!"

-

Darcy got the idea in the middle of lunch and wasted no time asking Steve what his and Bucky's favorite foods were.  However she gets completely sidetracked by crazy jello recipes on the internet.

Luckily Bruce is supervising.  He decided on salmon, even though Sarah Rogers was never able to buy fresh, certainly not in the quantities Bruce has delivered up.  It was either canned or what was left at the end of the day when the fish mongers were heading home.  The asparagus is much nicer too, stiff and bright green instead of the brown, wilted spears Steve had to hold his nose to eat.  

The table, set for seven with matching, unchipped plates and platters full of food, is nothing like the dinners Steve and Bucky had, even before rationing started.  Also, Steve doesn't want to hurt Darcy's feelings, but the end result of her experiment with jello salad looks like the inside of a Chitauri war-caterpillar.  It's somehow worse after she shakes it out of the Iron Man mold.  

He's the first to reach for it though, carving out a big piece, which earns a delighted smile.  It disappears abruptly when Darcy turns to find Jane tearing into the bread with her hands.  While she is distracted, Steve gives the big piece to Bucky and cuts himself a much thinner slice before handing it over to Tony.  Who, like an animal, takes a spoonful straight from the faceplate.

"This isn't half bad, Lewis," Tony declares.  "Isn't half-good either, but I've made worse."

Pepper tries a bite because Tony slaps it on her plate but she clearly isn't planning to eat more than that.  

Bruce takes a modest scoop before passing it along.  Darcy stabs Jello Man in the arc reactor and serves Jane an arm.  Jane enjoys it immensely.  Jane also likes rakfisk though, so maybe swapping spit with a god had unintended side effects.

Bucky feeds mechanically, his expression never changing no matter what he's chewing on.  Until dessert.

Bucky very noticeably perks up when the pies hit the table.  His eyes actually get rounder when he sees the ice cream.    
Steve watches him eat with a stupidly fond look on his face.  

-

Darcy finds a drawing of a grumpy looking bear with an empty pie tin in his paws taped to her door in the morning.  She makes Jarvis introduce Captain Rogers to Yogi Bear. 


	9. Superman's Girlfriend

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> title applies to... pretty much everyone who's not an Avenger.

It's on the news later.  Research lab in/under Philadelphia up in flames, shaky cellphone footage of Iron Man fighting 'enhanced' individuals, couple arrows whizzing through the air, and a whole hell of a lot of gunfire.  Rhodey calls him from god-knows-where and starts yelling the second the call connects.  Probably shouldn't have put him on speaker.

"What's the fuss, platypus?" Tony interrupts when Rhodey pauses for a breath.

"Are you crazy?!"

"Why do people keeping asking me that?"  

Pepper is brushing her hair.  Tony detects judgement as she mutes the reporter with the two undone buttons.  

"You want the whole list or just the Billboard Top 40?"

Iron Man gets thrown into a clothes shop.  The little square of video cuts to the same clothes shop on fire.  Tony winces.

"I was doing a friend a favor.  If I'd known I'd get so much crap for it, I'd've left Hawkeye to clean up his own mess."

Pepper pulls her hair back into a ponytail and dabs make-up remover onto a cotton ball.  Still exuding Judgement and Not Impressed.  To be fair, the news reports make it look much worse for the good guys.  Though opinion is apparently divided on who the good guys are in this scenario.  

"Where the hell was the rest of your team?"

"Aside from you, all my friends are avoiding lettered agencies, both current and retired.  Remember D.C.?"

"Oh I remember.  Lack of oversight and transparency is what led to _that_ shitshow.  I don't want my next assignment to be neutralizing Iron Man for the same thing."

"Aww, I love you too.  But if you think you can take on Iron Man all by your lonesome, I will put you in the ground."

"You keep telling yourself that.  Tell Pepper I say hi."

 

Pepper hasn't looked at him.  Hopefully it's just because she's been scrubbing at her eyelids.  He wraps his arm around her.  "Rhodey says hi."

"You should have brought Steve," she says to the hand lotion, avoiding his eyes in the mirror.

"If I brought Steve, HYDRA would... bring more HYDRA."

She finally looks at him.  "Maybe I'm too selfish to be a superhero's girlfriend.  But between you and anyone else, _everyone_ else... I need _you_ to come home, I don't care-"

"Don't say that.  You care."

"I care a little bit," she admits.  "But this was so much easier when it was personal.  When you were fighting 'them' because 'they' tried to hurt you, there was... an end. A point where you could say, 'those guys are gone and they are never coming back'.  If you have to duck into a telephone booth every time someone says 'Hail HYDRA'..."

Tony strokes her hair.  "I'm sorry you were worried."  He can't give her anything else.  

There's no balance between Iron and Man, there's just him.  And it's clear just him will not be enough.

* * *

"You should have-"

"I know, I know.  Wasn't my call."  Tony pointedly flips his welding mask down.  

Steve watches the bits in the crucible begin to melt for a minute before leaving.

He finds Jane and Darcy in the common area.  Darcy is practically sitting on Jane, which is good because she looks more than a little manic.  

"We're not having a good day," Darcy informs him primly.  "We discovered Jane's been alone in the lab for 90 hours and she hasn't slept at all in that time.  Also, she broke Jarvis.  And we are on our last box of Poptarts.  This is not why my 30 year-old is upset, though.  No, she's upset because one the reviewers for her abstract on warp speed-"

"The Foster-Selvig function is not for speed.  It describes the distorted space around an Einstein-Rosen Bridge as-" Darcy shoves a crumbly piece of poptart into Jane's mouth.   Jane is either chewing noisily in anger or still trying to talk and chewing by accident.  "-and the 'rainbow' boundaries of the Bridge indicate the distortion has a refractive index-"

"Go get yourself some milk."  Darcy stands and pushes Jane toward the fridge.  "As I was saying.  One of her reviewers was in that HYDRA lair Tony blew up yesterday.  Willingly and gainfully employed there.  Which means approval and publication of her article has been pushed back."

"I'm sorry?" Steve offers weakly.  Darcy flops back down.  

"Not as sorry as I am.  I tried to tell Tony about it but he wasn't in a 'listening' kind of mood."  She sighs.  "We're _not_ having a good day."

"Seems to be going around.  Bucky is... staying in."  There isn't really a better term for 'locked in his room watching WWII propaganda films'.  "How does one break an A.I. built by Tony Stark?"

"Only broken for Jane. When the very accommodating A.I. is told to 'stop bugging me about stupid things like sleep' and 'shut up until I finish this', along with a bunch of other stuff I shan't repeat..."  Darcy wiggles her fingers and makes a whooshing noise to represent science voodoo or maybe an explosion.  "Not even Tony Stark is immune to glitches.  It has been said that having a code compile on the first try is more than a superpower, it's divine providence."

Jane grumbles from the kitchen.

"You only get one god!" Darcy yells from the couch.  "You chose Thor; the god of Science isn't taking calls!"  She gives Steve a sideways glance.  "Pick a movie.  One I'll like."

Steve thinks for a minute and then asks Jarvis to play  _The Philadelphia Story_.   _  
_

Darcy's settling-down-dance puts her very close to him.  He moves his arm to the back of the couch to give her more room.  She ends up even closer.


	10. Even in Paradise

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It is not good to be alone, even in Paradise.  
> -proverb

Pepper calls Darcy into her office.  Hopefully not because of the 5 lb. red, white and blue gummy bear she put on her company card.  (It was for Captain America, what was she supposed to do?)

"Close the door."

The smart glass goes foggy so no one can see inside.  Darcy has yet to get used to that.

"Tell me about Bucky."

Bucky has more good episodes than bad lately, but the bad affect him a lot more.

Good days, he'll come out and eat with everyone else.  He'll have a few moments with other people that don't need to be set to Sarah McLachlan.  He might make some witty quip or ask a question about something he read.  He'll browse for snacks, displaying a clear preference for sweet over savory.  They've had to double up on Poptart orders and certain flavors of Steve's Clif Bars disappear much faster.  Sometimes he'll turn over a rock and find a memory he didn't know he had.  Yesterday he saw some girl in a movie wearing t-straps and he remembered getting a pair for his sister on her birthday.  Then he _remembered_ his sisters and there was an emotional few hours spent finding out what happened to them.  

The bad episodes come and go, usually without warning.  Sometimes he just won't get out of bed, as if to dare Steve to go all HYDRA on his ass and force him to do something he doesn't want to.  Often he and Steve get stuck in this infinite loop of Steve getting sad when Bucky doesn't remember something and Bucky getting sad because Steve is disappointed and Steve getting more sad because he upset Bucky and Bucky getting frustrated and sad because life was so much simpler when he only had to kill people and not live with them.

"Do you think he'd be receptive to professional help?"

_The way no one else here is_, Darcy fills in mentally.  Pepper is glaring at the Iron Man figure glued to her desk sculpture.  Darcy distinctly remembers it not being there yesterday.  Tiny Iron Man is throwing off the balance so he swings in a wobbly arc instead of a smooth circle.  Darcy is sure there's a metaphor in that somewhere.  She doesn't even want to imagine what Tony Stark's therapy bills would look like.

"Uh..."

"He and Bruce have a few private sessions, but Bruce insists it's more like a support group and he isn't anyone's idea of a therapist.  Recovery is a process and from everything I've heard, Bucky's needs a little push."  Pepper doesn't say that the sooner Bucky Barnes is somewhat functional, the sooner Captain America will be able to focus on other things.  Like HYDRA.

"I think Bucky would be down with that.  Steve maybe less so."

Pepper's eyebrow invites her to explain.

"On a personal level, not because he's a threat or anything.  I think he feels guilty being 'together and broken' in 2015 is worse than being alone in 1944, and he knows he should be happy and grateful and everything because Bucky is here at all.  Steve... takes responsibility for a lot he doesn't need to, and if you suggest Bucky needs a professional, he's going to take it like it's his fault, he's not good enough."

Pepper looks thoughtful, like Darcy said her piece in an articulate and eloquent fashion, and opens her laptop to scan her appointments.  "Push the 11am with Maria, I'd like a private meeting with Mr. Barnes.  And Darcy, ensure he knows that my schedule is the most sacred thing in this building."

* * *

Bucky doesn't show up for dinner.  Steve looks resigned.  Darcy skips out early to shove a note under Bucky's door.  It's a printout of this week's Magnolia cupcake flavors with 'you --> Pepper's office 11am tomorrow, or you're eating rice pudding for a month' scrawled underneath.

The door opens while she's still on the ground.  Bucky holds her note in his hand.  Darcy has no idea how anyone, super soldier serum or not, can move that fast and that quietly.

"No Steve?" he asks, waving the paper a little.

"Nope.  Just you and the boss lady."

Bucky thinks for a minute.  "Then get rid of him."

Darcy sputters from the floor.  

"Steve won't like it, you should distract him."

"What do you want me to do, dress in drag and do the hula?" 

"If it works."

"Ugh, you need to watch _The Lion King_ before you speak to me again.  And if you're so much as a minute late, all sugar will be mysteriously diverted to my desk and fed to the Wolves of the Break Room."

"Less likely to be late if Captain Nanny is out of the way."

"Fine."  Darcy leaves, muttering about kittens in trees and whether this counts as work or time off.


	11. Smile Like You Mean It

Darcy presents herself in front of the Military Suite (not actually what it's called) at 10 a.m. sharp and knocks.  Jarvis agreed that the only way Steve should learn about Bucky's headshrinker is from the man himself, so Jarvis is covering her ass(istant duties) for the day.  

She points a finger gun at Steve when he opens the door.  "This is a stick-up," she announces cheerfully. 

"I'm afraid I don't have any money."  He pulls his empty pockets out to show her.

"Well, in that case, this is a kidnapping.  Let's go."  She actually manages to tug him a step forward before he recovers.

"Wait, seriously?"

"Sure.  You need a break and I need an accomplice."

Steve glances at the door to Bucky's room.  Yesterday spilled over into this morning and Steve is sorely tempted to abandon it for a few hours.  He should stay though, even if Bucky doesn't want him to.

"Don't you have work?" he tries.

"I'm sick."  She coughs a couple times.  "I have a fever."

He puts a hand on her forehead.  "You feel fine to me."

Darcy flushes.  "You must have a fever too.  We'll quarantine ourselves in West Village."  

"You need an accomplice to go to the Village?"  

"I may or may not be cleaning out a certain bakery, so yeah, I need Captain America to run defense for me.  And I thought you could use the outside air."  She spots movement behind him.  Bucky leans against his door frame, looking quite sassy for someone with more problems than a calculus book.  

"You should go."

"Bucky!"  Steve looks like a dog who knows he did a bad thing.  Bucky must get that look a lot because he throws Steve's wallet.  Steve almost doesn't catch it.

"Pretty girls shouldn't have to ask twice."  

"Flatterer.  I'd take you instead, but you aren't cleared to leave the Tower."  Luckily, Pepper's office is only fifty floors down.  Her brow furrows a little when she notices he's wearing yesterday's t-shirt.  Even Tony can't get away with that in the business area any more.  Since Steve is still looking away, she plucks at the collar of her top meaningfully.  Bucky rolls his eyes and goes back into his room.  

She moves her hand so it looks like she was adjusting her hat when Steve turns around.

"He seems better."  Steve is wavering so Darcy risks using the Lewis Special. She lowers her gaze to her shoes.  "You don't have to come if you don't want to.  It's just cupcakes.  I come up with weird ideas late at night and don't double check them in the morning."  

Steve falls for it hook, line and sinker.  "No, I'd like to go.  Let me get my jacket."

* * *

Bucky walks in and gives her a little salute.  Pepper's business smile softens into something slightly more friendly.  Like Tony, he knows how to be charming when he thinks it will benefit him.  Certainly an improvement from when he first arrived.

"I in trouble?" he asks as he sits down.

"Debatable.  Bruce has put forward the idea that you are ready to receive professional help.  I'd like to know what you think."

"They have doctors for this?"  He gestures at his head with his left hand.

"More than you would guess."

"I don't know if it will help, but it can't hurt, right?"  Bucky looks so young and vulnerable right now, Pepper can see why Steve is trying so hard.

"I think you'll find it hurts a lot.  But it's worth it."  She glances down at the statue on her desk, Iron Man waving around unsteadily.  "I have some idea what you went through, and I know exactly what happens after.  He," she taps on the rod, making it spin, "came home with a hole in his heart and a mission to make the world a better place.  Not just the armor.  Part of it is on the tenth floor, keeping the Immigration people busy."  Pepper straightens.  "I'm going to give you some profiles.  My personal recommendation is for Dr. Sethi; he agreed to provide a redacted case study to outline his recovery strategy.  You and case study C.B. have quite a lot in common."

"Thank you."  

Pepper recognizes the sound of someone trying not to cry, so she doesn't look at his face when she pushes the stack of manila folders at him.  "Trust me, I have purely selfish reasons for all of this.  I do prefer carrots to sticks."

"Can I show these to Bruce?"

Pepper doesn't ask him why not Steve, which he is exceedingly grateful for.  "That's fine.  And remember, you don't have to pick just one."

"You think I need more?"  He gives her a tiny grin.

"If I had the time, I'd have a therapist for every day of the week," she replies with feeling.

* * *

"Miss Lewis, the flowers are waiting in the service area."

"Shit, I have to do one thing before we play hooky."  Darcy stops to apply a fresh coat of lipstick and clean a smudge off her glasses.  "Have you been to 10?  Half the people there have a crush on you."

"What's on 10?"  

"Main office of Tony's pet charity.  It's the director's birthday, and you know... Captain America hand delivering her flowers would be totally awesome."  Darcy links her fingers and tucks them under her chin in a pleading gesture.

-

"You make a very handsome vase," she informs him solemnly as they get off the elevator.  

"If it's Tony's charity, why isn't _he_ bringing her flowers?"

"These're from 'the office'.  Tony is buying her dinner."  They pass the large portrait hanging in the reception area, a gentle looking man surrounded by his family, presumably the Ho Yinsen the foundation is named for.  "Pepper is buying the wine."

The Director is on the phone, so they wait in the hall.  Despite their purported crushes, everyone speaks to Darcy before him, commenting on the lovely flowers, promising to get the new numbers by the end of the week, or joking about how many grant winners want to go to Culver instead of MIT.

"Tony went to MIT," she explains, remembering to take her hat off.  "Bruce and Jane come from Culver.  Technically so did I, but these kids want to be the next Dr. Foster, not the next Darcy Lewis."

"You sure?  Darcy Lewis is pretty swell."

She ducks her head, but not before Steve catches a glimpse of the prettiest smile in New York.


	12. Trouble is a Friend

Darcy blinks a little as  _New York_  hits them, it's a palpable difference from the sanitized, hypoallergenic air inside Stark's building.  “You mind if we get coffee?  I kind of had to forgo breakfast because of my illness.”

Darcy’s favorite caffeine fix turns out to be Steve’s favorite post-run stop.  If Steve ever got his coffee when the sun was actually up, maybe they'd have bumped into each other.  It's run by a frowny grey cat who sits by the cash register and accepts food and attention as tribute.  The owner found it huddling in the wreckage after the alien attack, and adopted it. Darcy greets it as Ming the Merciless; Steve has always addressed it as Colonel.  

Steve asked what its actual name was the first time he tried a croissant sandwich.  The girl ringing him up had shrugged.  “Carla says if you tame an animal, you name it.  Taming means food and love so basically everyone can give it a name.  And you can’t ask me boy or girl, I’m not supposed to tell.  Keeps the kids and the crazies happy.  I call it Resting Bitchface because it just sits there and judges me.”

It did look like it was permanently angry and Steve couldn’t help comparing it to Col. Phillips.  The cat certainly seemed to feel Steve was beneath its notice until he offered it a piece of ham that had fallen out of his sandwich.  

  ...

The first black SUV pulls up and steals a parking spot from a Prius while Darcy is giving Colonel Ming Bitchface a huge corner of her pound cake and letting it lick her fingers.  No one gets out.

 ...

Steve doodles on a napkin between sips of his latte. Darcy uses an organic plastic spork to cut her cake into jagged halves and offers Steve the smaller piece.  

“It has more icing!” she protests when he looks at it.  She takes a bite out of hers.  “There, yours is bigger.  Happy now?”

Steve has Bucky, he has the Tower, he has a team and a home and a piece of cake from Darcy Lewis.  This is the happiest he's been in a long time.

 ...

The woman in the power suit comes in to fill her travel mug just as Darcy is wiping crumbs and lipstick from her mouth.  She drops her change into the tip jar and exits half a foot behind Darcy, Steve holding the door for them both.  They end up walking to the train station together.

-

Steve is great for public transport.  He barely shifts his weight when the car rocks, and with him around no one else ‘accidentally’ falls into her.

“We could have walked,” he mutters, side-eyeing the passenger staring at Darcy.  Under the thick layer of filth, she’s can’t tell if it’s a man or woman or a cockroach in a human-suit.  "It's not even fifty blocks."

“'Not even fifty blocks'," she repeats mockingly.  " _You_ could walk.  I could _die_.”  She moves toward Steve so she’s not in Creepo’s line of sight anymore.  Steve obligingly steps closer.

 -

The second black SUV stops about twenty feet in front of them because of a jaywalker.  Steve notices the car honks half a beat before the man actually touches pavement.  But it's New York, and at least half the population is in a bad mood on any given day.  By the time he and Darcy get to the intersection, the SUV is three cars behind a taxi trying to make a right turn into a horde of pedestrians and everyone involved is honking or swearing.  

The bike messenger going the wrong way though... he looks at the SUV and then makes eye contact with Steve a second too long.  Everything adds up all at once.

“I think we’re in trouble,” Steve says, elbowing the rider into a parked car.  

“Mugger, men in black or more fucking aliens?” Darcy asks pleasantly, reaching into her purse.

“Second one.  Lots of the second one.”  He’s gotten really good at the technology thing, Darcy notices, as he slips a bluetooth over his ear like a pro.  “Tony, problem.  Get here, and get Darcy out.  This place should have a backdoor,” he tells her, nodding slightly at a kitschy pottery shop.

“Easy peasy.”  Darcy drags him up to the woman giving them the ‘is that Cap?’ face.  “Hi.  He's Captain America and we're cutting through, thanks so much.”

They rush past while she's still formulating a response and find the alley exit propped open with a butt ugly urn.  Steve keeps Darcy in front of him, close to the walls, out of sight from the street.  

“This is karma for conning a date out of Captain America, isn’t it,” she huffs, looking around.  Aside from the street where they don't want to go, there is just a chainlink fence and a dumpster full of broken pottery.  She wedges a foot in the fence and grabs the wire, trying not think about what usually happens in New York alleys.  At least she’s not wearing her office heels.

“This was a date?”  He sounds way too pleased for the current situation.  But then again, he's used to people trying to kill him.

Darcy bites her lip as she tries to get her other foot up.  “No… maybe?  Whatever you want.  Unless I die.  In which case, it was totally a date, that has to go on my gravestone.”

“You’re not going to die.”  Steve gives her a boost so she can get her ass over the top.  “And this isn’t a date.”   He leaps the fence once she’s clear.  “Our first date is _not_ going involve HYDRA.  Or Iron Man.”

The not-good noises coming from the other side of the building are getting louder so Darcy runs instead of arguing the definition of a date.  Steve doesn’t disagree with that plan.


	13. Off-Off Broadway Theater of War

Steve spots a fire escape, and uses the wall to get himself high enough to knock the ladder down.  

“You’re going up there and waiting for Tony to get you.”  

Darcy's G-man senses can feel the staccato of jackbooted feet running toward them.  “But you... You don’t have your shield-”

“I’ll be fine.  And so will you.”

Darcy doesn’t look fully convinced but she starts climbing.  

Steve watches for a second.  She gives him a watery smile from the second floor.  The noise behind them is getting closer so Steve runs until he hits the sidewalk and is forced to slow down.  A white van rolls past and brakes abruptly.  The car behind it honks.  

Steve is already moving.  Four men climb out of the van and take off after him.

-

Darcy peeks over the edge of the roof and is nearly sick with relief to find it empty.  She clambers onto the ledge and is about to slide to the floor when a bullet slams into the roof five feet away, sending pigeons into panicked flight.  She throws herself behind the stairwell, glasses clattering in slime and cigarette butts and god knows what else, cursing whoever let the bad guys onto the roof across the street where they are out of taser range.  

She digs for her phone and finds Tony's face on the screen. She swallows a sob as she answers.

“Lewis, I’m less than a minute away, are you inside-”

“On the roof, but there’s someone-”

“Not a problem.”

She hears the hum of repulsors and the click-BOOM of Iron Man taking care of business.  Tony touches down for half a second before snatching her up and accelerating away.

“I’m going to drop you off at the Tower, so hang tight.  You’re good,” he promises.

“But Steve-”

“Steve is good too.  I brought back-up.  What do you think took me so long?”

“Picking a playlist?”

He actually pops speakers out of his shoulders and blasts  _Sandstorm_ at her.

* * *

Lunch hour just finished, there are too many people, too many cars.  He needs to find a place with no one else around soon, or they will open fire regardless of civilians.

Steve is already in the alley when he realizes he’s been herded.  Iron Man buzzes above him so at least he doesn’t have to worry about Darcy.  He still has to worry about the shooting.  

There’s a thump-thump-bang and then his shield bounces off someone’s head.  He catches it automatically and ducks behind it as the bullets come.  Then silence rings loud and he risks lowering the shield.  

Everyone else is down...

He looks up.  

“You’re here,” his voice is thick with emotion he can’t even name right now.

“To the end of the line.”  Bucky jumps and lands beside him.  “S’not the first time I’ve had to save your ass,” he adds flippantly.  

Steve sees anxiety in his face despite the familiar smirk.  “Won’t be the last,” he agrees just as casually.

“HYDRA?”  Bucky kneels to relieve one of the downed men of his earpiece.

“Probably.”  Steve kneels to do the same when Jarvis chimes in his headset.

_Ms. Lewis is home.  Iron Man is en route.  Again._

“Thanks, Jarvis.”  He finds the HYDRA receiver and gives Jarvis the frequency.  The AI informs him two cars are converging on their location.  Bucky hefts a couple of guns, looking predatory.  

“So, you ready to follow Captain America into the jaws of death?” Steve can’t resist asking.

“Absolutely.”  Bucky aims his weapon at the street and fires.  The truck swerves and crashes into construction.  “Still too dumb to run away from a fight and you can’t even finish one without me.”

* * *

Pepper and Betty are there when Tony puts Darcy on the landing pad.  He pats her on the shoulder before taking off again.  Jane comes running in with a giant first aid kit and a sweater, followed closely by Bruce.

“So, I have a perfectly good reason for not being at work today,” begins Darcy as Betty and Jane sort through the medical supplies.

Pepper shushes her with a glass of brandy.

She certainly needs it when they bring her to the sink and run water over her palms.  There are cuts and scrapes and sticky things she doesn’t want to think about, and they all _hurt_.  Betty pours rubbing alcohol on her broken skin without mercy as Bruce peers and prods to make sure nothing is inside the wounds.  

When the assorted doctors (6 Ph.Ds between the three of them) determine that nothing needs urgent medical treatment, she's allowed to go shower.  

-

Jane is standing by with a reasonably sized first aid kit this time and her spare glasses when Darcy finally emerges from the bathroom.  And, because Jane loves her, Jane has a box of Avengers band-aids.

Jarvis must love her too because Yoo rolls up carefully carrying a root beer float with too much ice cream.  Just the way Darcy likes it.

"They got back ten minutes ago." Jane dabs gel onto a Q-tip before applying it to a cut she got fighting with the fence.

"Everybody alive and mostly functional?"

"Two super soldiers and Iron Man.  They're fine," Jane says dismissively.

"Wait, _Bucky_  was the back-up?"  Darcy chokes a little on her ice cream.

Jane gives her a look that says 'I forgive you for being kind of dumb, you did just suffer a traumatic experience'.  "Who else?"

"And everybody's fine?" she stresses.  "Like,  _fine_?"

"Aside from the people with the guns, yeah everybody's fine.  Tony's fine, Bucky's fine and Steve is fine."  Jane places a band-aid covered in lightning bolts and Mjolnirs on the cleaned cut.

"Yes, yes he is."  Darcy picks a Captain America one out of the box for Jane to use next.


	14. Do the Fandango

Steve has a lot of restrictions on what a first date should be.  Darcy supposes putting in too much thought is better than no thought at all, but it's still kind of disappointing.  Steve's list so far includes:

  * No HYDRA.  That's fine, those guys are jerks anyway.


  * No Iron Man.  That makes sense, because Tony is also kind of a jerk, but apparently that also means they can't just go down to 3 and grab a burger because Iron Man owns the building.  Darcy doubts Tony would waste his time spying on a date, but Steve knows Tony better than her.  Darcy however, knows what would happen if Pepper found out better than Steve, so it kind of evens out.


  * No shooting of any kind.  "Of  _any_ kind?"Darcy asks, voice laden with innuendo.  Would possibly have worked better if she didn't have a Captain America band aid on her face.  Steve's lips curl up but he remains firm.  No shooting of any kind.  At least not until the third date, he adds.


  * Darcy has to be able to hold things like forks and handrails without flinching.  She looks down at her hands.  The flesh of her palms itches like crazy and it probably looks like bleached ground beef under all the bandages.  Probably for the best that they wait.  Steve brought her a small bouquet of orange and purple flowers and refused to let her trim/vase them because he's Steve freaking Rogers, gentleman and superhero.  She does manage to press a kiss to his jawline (because that's the only place she can reach) without using her hands and she's quite pleased with the shade of pink he turns.



Okay, so that's it.  Four rules isn't that bad, but she doesn't have anything else to think about.  She's stuck on paid leave because she can't type or carry or really do anything useful.  Pepper isn't at all mad at her for skipping work so that's a plus.  Jarvis must have backed her up because they're homies who watch awful sci-fi together.  

* * *

Thor touches down on Friday.  It's less 'thunderbolt and lightning, very very frightening' and more 'my god Foster, what the hell is that racket- wait where'd she go?'.

Darcy isn't on the roof with Jane because Darcy is making Bucky watch  _Iron Giant_  (one can never have too many redemption stories).  She calls it using pop culture as a force of good not evil.  Jane calls it rotting his brain, but Jane is a total sci-fi snob and should not be listened to.  Jane thinks anything below the level of Clarke or Asimov or Verne isn't worthy of the name.  Jane will watch whatever is on, she'll just sweep everything that doesn't meet her idea of 'sci-fi' under the rug of 'pop culture' and go all Holden Caulfield on anyone who thinks owning a slave-Leia costume means they appreciate the genre.  Darcy has given up arguing the predictive powers of Star Trek and what exactly Thor being the green-skinned space babe to Jane's Captain Kirk means.

Thor and Steve come in right at the good part, but Darcy is full of forgiveness because  _Thor_.  He pulls her into a Looney Toons like hug, but at least he's somewhat mindful of her internal organs.  She laughs breathlessly as he puts her carefully back on the ground.  Thor turns to Bucky.

There's a second when they size each other up, 'threat assessment' is probably a better term than 'dick measuring', and then Thor is bowing like the prince he is.  He reaches out to grasp Bucky's shoulder.

"I am Thor," he says with his usual mix of Shakespearean gravity and bro-like eagerness.

"Bucky.  Bucky Barnes."  He says it easily, like he's done it all his life.  

Darcy sees how much Steve's face brightens and she feels just a little guilty for complaining about his dating protocols.  It's mostly not his fault he has so much shit on his plate.  Even if it has been postulated many times that Steve might actually like getting punched.

Thor exits with a swoosh of his cape, having done his duty to be polite and can return to Jane.  He gives the two of them an approving nod on his way out, probably off to put the hard in hard science. 

"Hi."  Steve's gaze drops for a split second before meeting hers.

"Hi yourself."  She belatedly straightens her shirt, feeling a heady kind of heat spreading across her cheeks.  This is definitely a Moment, and she is totally savoring it.

Bucky clears his throat, and they both start.  

"I can leave if you want," he offers, trying to keep a straight face.

Darcy runs through her catalog of comebacks but Steve is already going, apologizing for interrupting.  She ends up muffling a whine into a cushion.

"Shh.  Movie."

Only the cushion knows what she tells him he can do with his metal hand.


	15. Books and Covers

Dinner ended four hours ago but Darcy doesn't want to go back to her room.  Knowing Thor and Jane, there's going to be some serious talking about Things and Feelings and What Happens Now followed by 'make your ancestors proud and your descendants uncomfortable' reunion sex, and Darcy should not be there for any of it.

So she's hanging out with her iPod on a treadmill, partly because dating Captain America will clearly involve lots of running, but mostly because she's not going to be able to sleep on a couch without being drop dead tired.  Curse Tony Stark for his choice in luxury mattresses, she's been ruined forever.  She wipes sweat from her brow and wonders how this is her life.

Oh right, 6 college credits.  But earlier than that, there was the essay she wrote after 9/11, about how people can and will be heroes given the opportunity.  A-, bitches. 

"What?"

Darcy trips but regains her balance.  She slaps the off button of the machine and yanks her earbuds out as she turns.  Of course Steve is working with the weights; why _wouldn't_ the guy she likes be around when she's sweaty and frizzy and apparently talking to herself.  

"What what?" she counters.

"I thought you were talking to me," says Steve apologetically.

"Nope.  Not unless you want to hear about the many essays I have written about the sociopolitical fallout of a terrorist attack from a decade ago and how it got me into Culver with an AP class that didn't transfer."

"Sure." 

Steve has the balls to look genuinely interested so true to form, Darcy opens her mouth before she can think about what comes out.  "No, you don't, it involves planes crashing very deliberately into New York."

She cringes immediately and apologizes profusely for her lack of filter.  Steve doesn't get mad or offended, he just looks sad.

"I know what happened.  I'd like to hear what you wrote about it." 

"But-"

Steve drops to the mat and pats the spot next to him.   "If it gets too much, I'll stop you, okay?"

"Is that code for making out?" Darcy blurts and then hides her face in her hand. 

He smiles, but doesn't actually say 'no'.

* * *

Betty was going through Hulk data and somehow just nodded off at Bruce's desk.

"Not another one." 

Betty startles awake and tries to focus on the hand waving in front of her face.  The middle finger has a metal band that reads 'OOF THAT TONY STA'.

"You scientists are all the same," Pepper says with amusement.  "I personally would recommend bed, but there's coffee in the pot if 'this really can't wait'.  Jarvis is under strict orders to shut everything down once you hit hour 40 though."

Betty yawns.  "I was waiting for Bruce to finish up and started reading.  I had some ideas-" She shrugs a little self-deprecatingly at Pepper's expression.  "Publish or perish.  Hard habit to shake.  Looking for Mr. Stark?"

"What else.  He recently became an expert in thermonuclear astrophysics, so he's been babysitting Jane's data while she... is indisposed."

"Don't expect her to give him credit for it."

"He'll give himself credit and everyone will be impressed.  Oh, good evening Bruce.  Having a nice time?"  He must be tired because he misses the shark-like edge of teeth in the question.

"Tony and I figured out the maximum load for Veronica won't be enough so we're making some adjustments-"

"Veronica?"  Betty sounds _very_ neutral.  Bruce gulps a little but turns his tablet so the ladies can see the new armor designs for the Hulk containment program.  

"Tony thinks he's funny?" he offers weakly.  "And, well, she has a lot of accessories."

Betty lets a laugh slip out and taps on the distinctive Iron Man helmet.  "But she's a redhead."

"Cheryl just doesn't have the same ring to it," Pepper points out.  

Betty frowns.  Pepper sports 'lounge wear' and not 'pajamas' like some plebeian so it's completely weird to find out she read things like Archie comics.  

"I always felt obligated to root for her," Pepper defends, picking at a loose lock of her own red hair.

"You seem more Katy Keene than Cheryl Blossom."  Bruce is either lost or asleep with his eyes open.  Betty clicks her fingers.  "How often were you Daphne?"

Pepper laughs.  "Probably just as often as you were Velma.  I'm going to collect Fred.  You can handle Shaggy, right?"

Tony rolls out from under... something.  "I resent the implication that I'm the ascot-wearing eye candy.  Yo Banner, I found the coupling design so we can finish this.  Uh... in the morning?" Tony is not ashamed he has to look at Pepper first.  

Bruce glances at Betty.  "The afternoon?"  

"Yeah, afternoon is good."  Tony springs to his feet and grabs Pepper by the elbow.  "Let's split up, Daphne and I will go this way."

Betty stretches, feeling the orthopedic cushion on Bruce's chair slide off.  "Are you judging me for my taste in cartoons?" she asks with her eyes closed.  

"More like judging Pepper.  I have this conviction that she sprang out of thin air in high-heels with an MBA and a Blackberry.  I can't picture her as a child or a teenager.  You though... I already know what your wild phase looked like," he adds fondly.  "You made a lovely witch.  Wiccan.  Elf."

Betty shrugs indifferently.  "How else do you rebel against a man named Thunderbolt?"

Bruce does  _not_ say 'help a military experiment escape from government oversight'.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> insert 'only 80s kids....' meme  
> and because I lived in a non-American country, we got 80s TV into the 2000s. Lion Voltron was the shit.
> 
> yes Pepper now wears a 'proof that tony stark has a heart' ring and no, it doesn't go on _that_ finger.


	16. Won't Say Goodbye Anymore

Darcy crawls into her own bed at like four in the morning, to the faint but sweet sweet sounds of Thor snoring and not... other things.  

Steve's fault.  Not in the fun way.  Well okay, schooling Captain America on media theory is pretty fun.  But it would have been a hell of a lot _more_ fun if at least one of them had been shirtless.

Steve doesn't  _need_ sleep like normal people and he was so into discussing propaganda and social media that Darcy forgot she was supposed to be tired.  She must have started slurring her words because Steve got his guilt-face on and escorted her back to her room under fuzzy protest.  He pressed a kiss to the top of her head, like a boy stealing a cookie, and was off like a shot before she could stop him.  She was way too tired to appreciate the view which, when she reflects on it later, is supremely sad.

* * *

"We must find the scepter."  It's surprising how serious Thor can seem with a face full of French toast.

Tony is falling asleep in his smoothie and jerks up with a bleary "what?" when Steve nudges him.

"Loki's scepter," Thor says patiently.  "Its magic is not of Asgard nor any realm I know and with the fall of your SHIELD, it cannot remain on Earth."

"Yup, sure, got it.  One sec."   Tony pulls out his phone.  "Moneypenny get your ass up here, we have questions."

"Stark, I carry a gun and-"

Tony shoves the device into a napkin, muffling whatever is said next.  Steve gives him the patented Disapproving Look.

Maria shows up exactly ten minutes later, gun holster very obvious without her jacket on.  "What?"

"Glowstick of Destiny, all the gory details.  Go."

Former Deputy Director Hill glares.

"Ostentatious, pointy glowy thing with a nasty habit of mind-control, last seen in the hands of one Natasha Romanov.  SHIELD took the thing, HYDRA took SHIELD, poof gone.  Did you send it to a research facility in the Arctic so you could build an army of brainwashed penguins?"

"Penguins live in the Antarctic," Bruce mutters.

Maria crosses her arms and sits down without invitation.  Thor pushes the cooling platter of French toast toward her. 

"It was sent to a research facility," she admits finally.  "But after D.C. it disappeared.  I have a few guesses as to who would want it.  I'll start a shortlist."

"We need Barton and Romanov," Steve decides.

"Right, because they totally left business cards when you dismantled the institution they called home."

"Romanov, Hill."  Maria raises one hand for silence, finger to her Bluetooth.  "They're calling you in.  Keyword is Escher, any facilities linked to Whitehall or List are the best bet.  Forward everything to my Stark address."

"Escher?" inquires Thor.

Maria shrugs.  "Mindfucks, tessellation - Tesseract, it won the naming pool." 

"We have a couple lithographs somewhere.  I'll show you later, Point Break."  Tony picks at the syrupy mess on his plate.

* * *

Darcy shuffles out in search of breakfast and bounces off an exceedingly well-muscled roadblock.  Said roadblock helpfully steadies her before she falls on her ass.

"I was uh, about to knock."  Steve looks sheepish, but awake and alert which is leaps and bounds better than her current state.  Darcy zeroes in on the tray he's holding.  He laughs and gestures at the kitchenette.  Darcy grunts something that might be interpreted as 'please come inside, it's a pleasure to have you' and shuffles toward to the counter.

She has to push several half-empty boxes of cereal out of her way once she sits down but Steve is delightfully non-judgmental about her roommate's eating habits.  He is more interested in her hands, still stiff and she can't stretch her fingers out without feeling the pull of still-healing scabs, but it doesn't hurt.  Once she gets food in her she feels marginally more human.

"So, what brings you here at the ungodly hour of eleven in the morning?"

"We're going after HYDRA.  It's going to be..."

"Messy.  I kinda know how that goes."  She sips her milk.  "Does this mean we're taking a rain check?"

"I don't do rain checks anymore.  Would you like to go dancing tonight?"

She blinks owlishly.  "Tonight?  Mmm, nah."  She spins on her chair.  "Jarvis, hit me with some sweet beats."  The harsh bass drum of NIN's _Closer_ starts and Darcy flails.  "Shit, no, skip track!  Next one, next one!" 

Steve gives her a quizzical look.  She sighs.  "I made a playlist for Jane and Thor and uh... yeah.  Not appropriate for vertical dancing, that one.  The next five are from _Songs about Jane_ because I'm hilarious.  So um, you wanna dance now?" She holds out her hands.

Turns out they both suck at dancing.  Best first date ever.


	17. Fall Head First Like Paper Planes

Darcy and Steve are getting coffee at Carla's when someone drops into the chair next to Steve.

"Well, if it isn't Steve and Darcy Lewis on behalf of Pepper Potts."

Darcy debates flipping Sam Wilson off, but he and Steve are tight, so she doesn't.  "And the motherfucking Avengers," she reminds him.  "Nice hat."  It is a nice hat, dark grey fedora, not ironic in any way, right size for his head and everything.

"Thanks.  Figured I ought to dress up a little to meet with the CEO of Stark."

"When you got it, flaunt it," she agrees mildly.  Her phone buzzes and she turns it over to look at the incoming messages.  "Crap, speaking of flaunting, I gotta go get Jane into her big girl clothes so the other scientists don't pick on her.  Later, gators!"

She kisses Steve on the cheek and runs off, scarf flapping behind her.

Steve becomes very interested in his coffee.  Sam laughs.

"Sweet girl.  Bet she runs laps around you." 

The great thing about Sam is he only teases for a minute before moving on, unlike some other billionaires Steve knows.

"So, what's good here?  Is that opera cake?"

* * *

"Jane!  You have a science thing!  You need to get ready."  Darcy waves an armful of garment bag and accessories.

"I am ready!  My presentation and notes are in the blue bag, and I even printed out the directions to the hotel."

Darcy looks down at said bag and then at Dummy, who is apparently in time-out.  Dummy tilts his claw at her inquisitively and then points proudly to the scarlet D on his casing.

"That's fine, but I saw Thor in a suit, so I know you know the difference between 'informal' and 'skinny jeans with a lumberjack shirt'."

Jane looks down at her clothes.

"Oh right."

Darcy hangs the garment bag on Dummy and unzips it.  She finds a lovely dress of stiff navy material with a jeweled collar that looks like stars.  "Oh my god, this is a Pepper Potts-level dress.  Why are you not wearing it?  If I had the choice, I'd never take it off."

"Sad commentary on your sex life, Lewis."

"Go fall down a well, Stark.  Jane, let go of the... whatever that is for two minutes and get changed.  Even Tony looks presentable."

"I am giving the keynote," Tony preens.  "And as the leading authority on the portal events we're discussing today, Dr. Foster, you definitely need to lose the plaid."

-

The panel is breaking for coffee when Jarvis detects a remote access attempt on Jane's laptop and fires off an alert.  Tony is already reaching for his suitcase when the doors fly open and smoke spills into the room.

Jane is savvy enough to figure out the target of the attack.  "Fry it!" she tells Thor, pointing to her computer all the way at the other end of the hall.  He wastes no time summoning Mjolnir.  Iron Man is faster.

"Expense it," he quips, raising his hand and obliterating the laptop.  The lights go out as he turns to scan the room. 

"You throw the nicest parties."  Black Widow emerges from an air vent and flips onto a table.  "Hostiles in the adjacent ballrooms, all indicators point to kidnap not kill, but killing is always Plan B for these guys."

"Where's your feathery shadow?"

"Playing hide-and-seek in the parking lot."  Natasha waves at Jane.  Jane waves back, only a little bemused.

* * *

 Rhodey pours a fifth of scotch into his cup.  Tony tilts it toward him in salute before downing it.

"Iron Man isn't enough."  Tony's voice is smaller than usual.

"That's why you're on a team," Rhodey reminds him gently.  "And not to beat the glue, but you destroyed the fleet of suits you could be using for back-up."

"Ugh, I was sleep-deprived and crazy.  Didn't realize how... Justin Hammer that looked until I saw it on the news.  They were all prototypes anyway."

"I think you need them.  You and the god of rolling blackouts are the only aerial units, but you both prefer close-range combat.  Tactically, you need dedicated air support and I'm too busy."

"You just want me to build more toys for-"

"I want it to not be you the next time you have to fly a missile into outer space."  Rhodey puts the bottle on the table with more force that necessary.

"All I'm hearing is 'Hey Tony, you should totally build a drone army'."  

 -

Darcy has the box of Avengers band-aids.  Jane waves her off.

"I'm fine.  Just a little smoke inhalation.  Dr. Merrick spilled coffee on my dress."  

"I should have lent you my taser."

"Have you met mine?"  Jane jokes, pointing at Thor.  Thor and Steve are deep in discussion with Maria, Natasha and Clint.  Clint's secret candy stash has been turned into some weird diagram of HYDRA hierarchy and Natasha seems to have a serious grudge against the Rolos.

Clint starts eating the Skittle-scientists, so it looks like Avenging is done for the day.  Steve peels off and comes to sit with them.  Darcy scoots closer.  He wraps an arm around her and sticks his chin out at Natasha, who is watching with a pleasantly blank expression.

Jane looks between the three of them.  "I'm missing something, aren't I?"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Cue the Age of Ultron title card.
> 
> Anthony Mackie in a fedora can adjust my bureau any time. I need it moved like five inches to the left so I have room for my shoe rack.


	18. Prayers and Proclamations

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> so many liberties taken, it could be Poland in 1943.  
> no spoilers for Age of Ultron, but we've set the stage.

Steve's not glad, exactly, that Bucky is seeing a therapist.  If it were up to him, Bucky wouldn't ever have anything to talk to a therapist about.  But Steve knows there's no way Bucky is  _not_ coming with him to burn HYDRA to the ground and salt the ashes, so it's a relief to know he will have... an outlet.  That's what he called it.  Steve's 'outlet' is hitting stuff.  Darcy makes him forget why he even needs it. 

Darcy decided it was a travesty and a crime that he hasn't seen  _Raiders of the Lost Ark_.  

"You have to tell me if you like, get triggered or something, but I seriously doubt these Nazis are anything like the real ones."

They're not.  They're  _really_ not.  It's amazing.

* * *

Bucky stops at a florist while he's in Alphabet City.  Clint Barton materializes from somewhere and points to the calla lilies.  

"You don't even know who they're for," Bucky mutters.

"I can guess, and she likes calla lilies.  They're all elegant and understated."

Bucky considers this.  "Did she send you to keep an eye on me?"  Barton and Romanov have slipped right back into their lives here, easily filling the spy-shaped holes they left.  Bucky finds himself a little envious at how easy they make it seem.

"Nah.  Steve, however, went all Spanish Inquisition about whether we could trust a former SHIELD shrink and what exactly he does to help brainwashed assassins.  Pepper told him to let it go."

Bucky considers this too.  Case study C.B. watches him patiently.  "I'd ask how long it took you... but-"

"The healing process is shaped by the scars we already carry," recites Clint.  "We used to call him Sethi the Yeti.  Luckily, you don't need him to sign anything.  The man dealt with soldiers, spies and psychopaths on a daily basis, you'd think he'd _want_ to get rid of them as soon as possible."

Bucky picks a few lilies and tries to gauge whether the bunch is too big or too small.  

"You have a mission," Barton says quietly, so quietly he almost can't hear it over the rustle of stems.

Bucky tenses.  "Not funny."

"Not kidding.  We're going after HYDRA.  For the scepter and also because we hate them.  You died for Captain America once.  Don't do it again."  Clint gestures at the boy wearing the apron.  "Red and gold ribbon, if they have it?"

"Sure."  Bucky pays for the flowers by handing a card to the girl behind the register.  She returns it to him with a slip of paper and he has to scribble his name at the bottom.   _James B Barnes._  The motion is fluid and familiar, even if the sight is not.  

The boy threads the ribbons through a little square of pasteboard and puts it in front of him.  It takes him a few minutes to decide but finally he manages to write 'sorry about your painting'.  

Clint holds the door open for him as he walks out with his flowers.  "So um... Cap and Darcy.  How long has that been a thing?"  

* * *

"He shot me in the stomach."

"You stabbed me in the neck."

"Are you uncomfortable with him here?" Pepper looks up from her phone.  

Natasha shrugs, opening the shaker and pouring the contents into a glass with five olives already in it.  "I'm okay if you are.  And you're paying for his therapy, so I guess you are."  She slides the cocktail to Pepper.

"It's incredibly unlikely he'll shoot you again," Bruce offers, picking cashews out of the bowl next to him.  "Based on his last brain scans, I don't think we have to worry about a relapse."

"Make mine a scotch and his a grasshopper," orders Tony.  "Bruce refuses to admit that I was right about the serum and the ice and the everything else."

"All we can say for certain is you were less wrong than I was."

"You see what I have to work with?" Tony whines at Pepper.  "Why do you let them stay here?"

Because with them around you're less likely to die.  Because you're a team.  Because you need them and I need you.  Pepper sips her martini.  "Because they're so very very pretty."  

Natasha's eyes flick over her, but all she says is 'thanks for not turning my room into a closet'.

"Sir, you have an incoming call from Ms. Hill."

"Accepted," says Pepper before Tony can say anything.  Jarvis helpfully projects Ms. Hill on an empty wall along with the map she is looking at.

"I might have a lead on the scepter.  This castle in the Alps has had some unusual heat signatures in the last few months.  Not really a tourist hotspot, the only thing that might be interesting about it is the last owner was very much a Nazi and his castle was part of the supply chain getting food and resources to the main stronghold."

"The similarities between the cube and the jewel could mean Zola's equipment works for both."  Bruce pulls out his tablet.  

"Jarvis, get Rogers up here.  Actually, tell everyone to meet in the Assembly hall."

"Is that really what you're calling it?"  Natasha and Maria share a look of long-suffering.

* * *

 

Jarvis is apologetic but insistent that Captain Rogers go to the conference room.  Darcy sighs and wipes at the lipstick on his mouth.  

"Your friends are so needy," she tells him.

"Yeah, but I can't leave them unsupervised."  Steve drops a very red kiss on her forehead.

"Well you could, but it wouldn't end so well."


End file.
